.. there should be an expanded/revised fortress, with the laboratory, the alien animal menagerie.. the SuperMobile should be there, with the mechanical arms.. Some LMD superman robots should be there..

I would definitely like to see a more technological fortress and a new look for the fortress but I'm not as concerned with him having more tech showcased as having all of his powers and strength showcased properly. His powers should come first... and a definite no to supermobile.

__________________"You are part of the night, just like me. We're not afraid of the dark--we come alive in it...we're thrilled by it."-Catwoman to Batman

This is somethiing i've advocated for a long time. Just posting snippets from a treatment i did for a superman film:

Technology:

Technology is an important part of this film. It will highlight and contrast cutting edge human technology, similar to iron man, in the hands of Lex Luthor and star labs and/or Cadmus verses extraterrestrial tech in the form of Kryptonian tech and Brainiac tech.

A big departure would be the portrayal of all things Kryptonian as ice and crystals. While iconic, it is unnecessary. I don’t believe this was anywhere in the comics until after the movie. It reflected the popular view at the time of what alien tech may have been like. The comics however, especially current comics, give Kryptonian tech more personality and identity. It is something that might be seen in a Sci-Fi movie like star wars or star trek on an alien world. Everything from the fortress of solitude to Clark’s ship, and weapons should reflect more of a mix of the comic book and how modern Sci-Fi might depict alien tech.

Brainiac’s robots would be similar to sonny from I-Robot. The level of agility and facial expression would be interesting when contrasted with the realistic setting of the movie. Again it needs to look alien, maybe an influence from the Borg of Star Trek? Not sure. But they should feel complex to the extent that someone like Lex Luthor could reverse engineer it and create space age technology of his own, including Metallo, weapons, and other hi-tech gadgets. Also Transformers is a huge influence in the overall appearance and complexity of Brainiac and his robots. It should feel complex and menacing.

more:

But Clark using some Kryptonian technology or maybe from star labs is able to create a hologram of superman so they both can be in the same place at once. Example: if he and Lois are walking around metropolis, they see superman fly overhead, something like that. Lois doesn’t know what to think, her gut is telling her one thing but her eyes are telling her something else.

I was thinking it would be interesting to borrow some elements from the Ultimates in that there has been a sort of a genetics/ technological arms race brewing.

Luthor Corp is leading the world in the manufacturing of space age technology along with military applications. At the same time research institutes like Cadmus are trying to manufacture genetic weapons. In the midst of this backdrop superman arrives.

The world is in awe and stunned at the same time. This also leads to the deployment of some of the said weapons both genetic and technological; this could lead to birth of super villains like parasite, and Metallo. Even Bizarro after they get a sample of superman's DNA and try to create a clone.

This is obviously the backdrop for multiple films not just one.

Again this is a fictional world; I’d like to see the differences between our realities brought to the fore. It would also establish why superman isn't involved in stopping wars everywhere etc, as he'd more specifically be preoccupied with superhuman threats that no one else can handle.

The thing that concerns me about Superman having too much Kryptonian tech at his disposal is that many people feel that Superman already has it pretty easy with all his powers, his pleasant upbringing, and having Lois Lane at his beckoning call. Now, having all these Kryptonian gadgets to get him out of any situation that could pose even the slightest challenge and conflict would be kind of ridiculous. Just imagine Superman being bequeathed an ancient Kryptonian wand that allows him to erase evil out of existence....Stuff like that could lead to zany Silver age madness and make audiences everywhere groan at the lameness.

Maybe, instead of showing Kryptonian technology, they could show a slightly advanced human tech - courtesy of LuthorCorp (LexCorp) and even Wayne/Kord Industries. Nothing too outlandish, maybe a ray gun or some jetpacks.

The thing that concerns me about Superman having too much Kryptonian tech at his disposal is that many people feel that Superman already has it pretty easy with all his powers, his pleasant upbringing, and having Lois Lane at his beckoning call. Now, having all these Kryptonian gadgets to get him out of any situation that could pose even the slightest challenge and conflict would be kind of ridiculous. Just imagine Superman being bequeathed an ancient Kryptonian wand that allows him to erase evil out of existence....Stuff like that could lead to zany Silver age madness and make audiences everywhere groan at the lameness.

I'm not talking about using kryptonian tech for weapons or gadgets, but if he goes to the fortress i want it to look like something from Star Wars or STar Trek, very scifi and cool, otherwise why have it? The crystals are just old and done to death b/w the movies, smallville and now the comic, something else is in order.

it still look futuristic. and it will still look futuristic in the future. imagine if they had used the 80's computer's technology, or mechanical control capsule, it would have looked so low tech now.
any of the current tech would look dated one day.

Superman comes from an extremely advanced alien civilisation. Destruction of Krypton or no destruction of Krypton, I don't buy that they would send him to Earth in a spaceship without including some tech for his use - or at least blueprints for Kryptonian technology so that he can build it himself.

Now I don't think that Superman himself needs a hi-tech suit or the like - he's invulnerable, so there's no need for armour. But I would certainly like to see a Fortress of Solitude which is more hi-tech than the ones we've seen in the Donner films. The crystals were a clever way of showcasing Kryptonian tech as they do have very unique light storage/refraction properties, but I think we need more than just crystals this time - we need metals, computers, power, etc. Showcasing Kryptonian tech on screen is a very visual experience too, and a crystal fortress arguably looks basic/primitive too, even though we know it's not.

Previous Superman films (and TV shows) have focused solely on his physical powers without much mention being made of his advanced intelligence either. The man can move at near the speed of light, so it's safe to assume that his brain (and senses) can process things at many thousand times faster than a human. He's not just a strongman. Over the years, many comics have shown Superman using the technology in his Fortress of Solitude to create chemicals, formulae, etc. He has also used advanced Kryptonian computers to investigate alien lifeforms, study space maps, etc. It's high time that we saw some more of this on screen.

Totally agreed, really wish they would've followed up with that take on it. We even saw written kryptonian just like the comic something the old films never tried.

Quote:

Originally Posted by elgaz

Totally agree that we need to see more Tech in this film.

Superman comes from an extremely advanced alien civilisation. Destruction of Krypton or no destruction of Krypton, I don't buy that they would send him to Earth in a spaceship without including some tech for his use - or at least blueprints for Kryptonian technology so that he can build it himself.

Now I don't think that Superman himself needs a hi-tech suit or the like - he's invulnerable, so there's no need for armour. But I would certainly like to see a Fortress of Solitude which is more hi-tech than the ones we've seen in the Donner films. The crystals were a clever way of showcasing Kryptonian tech as they do have very unique light storage/refraction properties, but I think we need more than just crystals this time - we need metals, computers, power, etc. Showcasing Kryptonian tech on screen is a very visual experience too, and a crystal fortress arguably looks basic/primitive too, even though we know it's not.

Previous Superman films (and TV shows) have focused solely on his physical powers without much mention being made of his advanced intelligence either. The man can move at near the speed of light, so it's safe to assume that his brain (and senses) can process things at many thousand times faster than a human. He's not just a strongman. Over the years, many comics have shown Superman using the technology in his Fortress of Solitude to create chemicals, formulae, etc. He has also used advanced Kryptonian computers to investigate alien lifeforms, study space maps, etc. It's high time that we saw some more of this on screen.

Awesome ideas, i'd love to see that, showcase that he's more than just a strongman as you put it and i think he'll win back the interests of viewers. It's that notion that he's just this boring flying brick that causes people to look down on him. Show what an interesting character he is, make the fortress cool, etc, and people will see him with new light.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sf2

it still look futuristic. and it will still look futuristic in the future. imagine if they had used the 80's computer's technology, or mechanical control capsule, it would have looked so low tech now.
any of the current tech would look dated one day.

hasn't hurt star wars any. The crystals make the giant fortress into essentially one room with one console. Why does he need the rest of the place? In four films we saw two rooms of this giant fortress. The console room and the bedroom. Wow, great place Supes. Make the fortress into an interesting place to explore and i guarantee people will get excited.

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Awesome ideas, i'd love to see that, showcase that he's more than just a strongman as you put it and i think he'll win back the interests of viewers. It's that notion that he's just this boring flying brick that causes people to look down on him. Show what an interesting character he is, make the fortress cool, etc, and people will see him with new light.

Yup, totally agree. I think a lot of modern viewers don't find Superman complex enough - he's simply this superpowered do-gooder with no obvious personal tragedy (like Bruce Wayne seeing his parents gunned down) adding angst to the proceedings. Superman does good simply because he wants to - which is an alien concept (!) these days.

Showcasing more of his super-intelligence would help here. He's not just some big guy who can lift pretty much anything on the planet; give him a challenge which involves using all of his powers and intelligence.

I like in the comics when he uses more subtle powers and strategies to overcome an enemy rather than just punching them into oblivion. When he faced down Manchester Black, a master of telepathy and telekinesis, Black was able to telekinetically pinch blood vessels in Superman's brain and give him a stroke. Superman vanished in an explosion orchestrated by Black's comrades, and although presumed dead by them, he recovered quickly and was actually watching from a distance. He took out all of Black's cohorts using superspeed, then used a very, very focused beam of heat vision fired through Black's retina to give him the equivalent of a concussion. Rendered powerless for a short period, Black was actually convinced Superman had given him a lobotomy of sorts.

I've found that on the big screen, Lex Luthor has always been portrayed as the genius whilst Superman is the strongman. Superman should be every bit as smart as Lex, and I'd like to see this portrayed better on screen.

Maybe Superman is given a way to create a mate from an earth woman & builds a machine to harness the power of the yellow sun & converts it into red sun rays & exposes Lois to it to make her super. She doesn't need any special Kryptonian DNA for it to work, maybe it could be a matter of simply being exposed to the red sun's radiation that causes her to change.

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Actually, I believe the plan was always to have a connection to the Reeve films. However, instead of making a direct prequel, they were going to combine several versions of the mythos into something new. The Fortress was always meant to have the crystalline look on the show.

For me, the computer tech should always be crystals, holograms, etc. However the buildings, vehicles, etc don't need to follow the same mold.

I genuinely think the fortress should be some place that one would actually want to go, not an ice-fortress. I love the animated series take on it, with alien pet zoo. An amalgam of Birthright, Allstar Superman, and TAS would be great. Give us something to marvel at.

Maybe Superman is given a way to create a mate from an earth woman & builds a machine to harness the power of the yellow sun & converts it into red sun rays & exposes Lois to it to make her super. She doesn't need any special Kryptonian DNA for it to work, maybe it could be a matter of simply being exposed to the red sun's radiation that causes her to change.

I don't really like that idea, because it makes Kryptonians mostly like humans in that anyone can have powers if they stand under the right colored sun. The solar battery concept makes Kryptonians the evolved beings they were originally created to be, while also providing an explanation for why they don't have powers on Krypton.

Plus, it would make it too easy for Lex. If he wants to present a physical challenge to Superman, just conjure up some red sun rays and he's Super-Lex.